A man accused of leaving four children in a car with the windows rolled up while temperatures soared to 97 degrees is being held on bail.

Jeremiah Hollenbeck, 28, of Lebanon, Maine, was arraigned Thursday on four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, one count of receiving stolen property and one count of possession of a controlled narcotic.

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"I have no way to pay $50,000 cash bail. I really have no friends in the area, and the only family I have is my father, and I know he doesn't have it, either," Hollenbeck said during his arraignment.

Police said Hollenbeck left his 9-month-old twins and a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old inside a car for 10 to 15 minutes Wednesday while he was inside a Family Dollar store. Police accused him of stealing an iPhone case from the store.

"He was looking around for some products, and we looked outside, and I guess he left his two infants, toddlers, so there was four kids out in the blazing-hot heat," said Family Dollar clerk Joseph Kosits.

Officials said the twins are Hollenbeck's, and he is the guardian of the two other children. Those children are his fiancee's, who is in drug rehab, officials said. The children were suffering from heat-related symptoms, police said.

The children have been or will soon be released from a hospital, police said. The children are being turned over to Hollenbeck's father and will be taken back to Maine.

Police said Hollenebck told officers he had just turned off the car's air conditioner and was only gone for a few minutes.

Officials said things can go wrong quickly in a sweltering car.

"Parents think they're doing OK and leaving them in the car to run inside and grab something, but as soon as you turn that car off and roll up the windows, they're going to get seriously hurt or die," said Lebanon Rescue Assistant Chief Jason Cole.

Cole said anyone who sees a person or animal locked in a hot car should call 911 -- and in a worst-case scenario, break a window.

"If someone's not responding to you and it's really hot, you've got to do what you've got to do to protect that person and try to save their life," said Cole.

A probable cause hearing for Hollenbeck has been scheduled for July 26.